The foreign ministers of the European Common Market yesterday approved a $4 million aid program for Palestinian refugees. They met here Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss the proposed “global policy” to be applied to Mediterranean countries. The aid to refugees, consisting mainly of food, will be channeled through the United Nations Relief Agency (UNRWA), and will be spread over a period of five years.
The EEC by its assistance is virtually coming to the rescue of one UNRWA program by providing the 6000 tons of sugar which the agency feared would have to be eliminated from its daily 830,000 rations. The second part of the EEC aid will go to the most disadvantaged refugees: children, young mothers and the aged.
Program spokesman Jean-Francois Deniau, said the food aid program will probably be followed by a series of health and education measures. This aid, including the construction of schools and health centers, would be spread over five years, and cost around $33 million. Financial assistance to the countries that suffered most during the Middle East conflict is also being studied by the EEC commission. No immediate decision is expected, however, because of the complexity of the problem.
The “global policy” calls for establishing a free industrial exchange zone by July 1977; a more liberal policy on agricultural products; and substantial technical and financial assistance to Mediterranean countries. A decision is expected before the end of the year. British Foreign Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home said his government approved the “global policy” and had no intention of trying to slow down its implementation. He said, however, that pains should be taken not to aggravate the Israeli-Arab conflict, and asked that the reactions of industrial powers such as the United States and Japan be given serious consideration.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
